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Beede’s breakdown: How depleted Magic escaped Utah victorious in high-scoring game

In a game without their regular starting point guard, the Magic captured a much-needed victory to split a four-game west coast road trip in a high-scoring matchup against the Jazz on Thursday night.

Orlando, who sat Markelle Fultz due to left knee swelling, won 115-113 in Utah behind Paolo Banchero’s season-high 30 points and ended a two-game losing streak.

The victory was Orlando’s first in Utah since Dec. 3, 2015.

The Magic return to Amway Center on Saturday to host LeBron James and the L.A. Lakers, who beat them 108-105 earlier this week.

Starting 5

With Fultz a late scratch, coach Jamahl Mosley inserted sharpshooter Gary Harris into the starting lineup and shifted Jalen Suggs to point guard. Harris started 42 games for the Magic last year.

Regulars Franz Wagner, Banchero and Wendell Carter Jr. filled out the unit — the latter of whom scored the Magic’s first 5 points in the game.

Harris, however, did not play the second half due to a sore right groin. In 14 minutes, he missed a pair of 3-point tries with an assist and block.

Banchero, who took a lot of Utah’s focus on defense when he was on the floor, was efficient on offense and attacked the basket often. The NBA Rookie of the Year shot 9 of 13 from the field and 11 of 15 at the free throw line to go with 9 rebounds and 5 assists.

Wagner, who at times handled the ball, added 21 points in 38 minutes.

Following another slow start on offense (2 of 9 with 4 turnovers in first five minutes), the first five eventually picked things up. Despite two early fouls, Carter sunk his first three 3-point attempts.

Carter, who left the game in the final seconds due to an apparent left hand injury, finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Second Unit

Ingles, who spent the first eight years of his career with the Jazz, entered to applause from the Utah crowd. He started the second half in place of Harris.

Mosley initially used a nine-man rotation with Ingles, Moe Wagner, Cole Anthony and Jonathan Isaac joining Franz Wagner. This group provided a boost offensively but struggled at times to run back on transition defense.

Anthony led the bench with 18 points, including 2 of 4 from 3-point range, and went 6 of 6 at the charity stripe. He added 6 rebounds and 6 assists while running offense for the second group.

Moe Wagner (10 points) scored in double digits for the third time in the last four games.

Eventually, Mosley turned to rookie Anthony Black to use 10 players in his rotation.

Rookie Watch

Black played the first meaningful minutes of his career. He entered at 3:28 of the second quarter and immediately made an impact on both ends.

He made all 4 of his field goal attempts to score 9 points with 2 steals and 2 rebounds in 16 minutes.

Black started the fourth quarter and didn’t check out until the 3:42 of the final frame. His night was highlighted by an acrobatic layup where he came underneath the rim to score off Banchero’s pass in transition.

Black re-entered in the final seconds after Carter’s injury. The Jazz were allowed to select him to take the foul shots because Carter, who was in the game, couldn’t continue. He made 1 of 2 for the final margin.

Isaac the Disruptor

After getting the night off Tuesday on the second of a back-to-back in Los Angeles, Isaac (rest) made his presence known when he returned to the court.

Although the 6-10 forward missed all of his 3-point attempts, he swatted away 3 shots on defense and added a steal that turned into an easy transition bucket for Black in the third quarter.

He added 3 rebounds as he impacted the game in more ways than one in 12 minutes.

Email Jason Beede at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on X, also known as Twitter, at @therealBeede.